Battered and Bandaged: A Ragnarok Online fanfic
by Flashfire
Summary: (Minor edit made to Ch.2 We have a RO fanfiction section now! Yay!) Depicting the life and times of Chimera Kowalczki, your oh-so-not-average assassin, and the many people that associate with her. Events based loosely on real in-game situations!
1. Neither Start nor Finish

There are many things that defy the point of life and existence as a whole, and one of these things is a Ragnarok Online fanfiction. Why anyone would bother, I don't know. But, wherever this file may go, there will be people who can find out. Whether they at all want to, or not. Like it's your choice. Hah.  
  
So without more random nothing:  
  
**Battered and Bandaged: A Ragnarok Online fanfiction**  
_by Flashfire, possibly the only guy that can and would_  
  
--  
The sky in Rune-Midgard is not exactly beautiful. Most people ignore it, since nobody is ever looking upwards. Why should they? Everyone is out for themselves anyway, with a few simple rules;  
** Kill horrible creatures with a dislike of humankind.  
** Find the pieces of Ymir, which you happen not to know anything at all about.  
...and then nobody is really sure what to do after then. Which is okay, since nobody had had anything to do with them in thousands of years, so, perhaps the first two of these factors got the most look.  
  
She was actually pretty sick of it. It was a brilliant atmosphere, though; especially for a once-thief like her. So much to do, so many things to appropriate from people (that, all in all, had way too much zeny to care) and, of course, such a lot to see. Which reminded her of the fact she was standing atop a rather tall tower, with what could only be described in the way of her hometown; 'a bloody good view'.  
  
A little too early in the day for a bloody sky, in reality it was overcast. At least from up this tower, one had a proper view of at least some of the continent. Quietly, she turned on one foot, brushing up that green hair from her shoulders, and identifying what things were.  
"I guess if I'm stood on Geffen Tower and I face to the southeast.. I should be able to see Prontera from here." mouthed the agile one, beginning slightly scornfully. Geffen was the home of magic, and because magic was the cheapest skill known to her, she looked down. And besides, mages were very, very easily to do away with.  
  
A sudden breeze threw her into a crouch, the shine of metal coming into the light and bouncing off the two most obvious things, her clothing which appeared to have it woven into the material.. and a rather mean looking dagger, which at current was clasped with both hands.  
About Prontera.. yeah, that was the big place. Nice. Lots of people. Lots of foolish people, as well, especially in the height of day. Indeed, she could almost hear them from here.. people selling nonsense things to nonsense people for the most insane prices. Indeed, her armour had cost her a nice, pretty 150 thousand zeny. 150 thou.. she could have bought a house back in Morroc with that.  
Lovely Morroc. The place she liked best. Perhaps when she did what she was planning, she'd face that way. A desert town for the desert rats, just like she; a place where people talked no nonsense, and where everyone went that meant anything to the world.  
  
"I guess they can say I made my mark, hm?" came the quiet speaking of the slightly weary female assassin, although it'd have been a trick to look at her and say that much. Dressed in a decidedly male outfit more designed for the thieves of the Pyramid sector of the desert, a yellow jumper and green trousers. Over the top of this was slung a very high-quality and somewhat old set of body armour and the best part was its weight; not even as heavy as her blade. The coveted ninja suit. And indeed, over that she just had a loose manteau, falling to her waist and probably helping the world not see a tall yellow beacon atop the tower this moment.  
It was busy down below, too. Nonsense people doing nonsense things. Removing a somewhat bloodstained red bandage from her head - an old memento, and one never really parted with, except for now, where she slung it from the tower in a light movement - she watched it fall, gracefully.  
  
It occurred to her, just then, that she didn't even know a thing about the people who built this thing. Perhaps they hadn't designed it for being jumped off.  
"It's been done before." she sighed. "Upon the name of Fareth, and if there's anybody out there, guide my path. Because if I come out of this broken and dead, I'm so going to come up there and beat you all up. Pfft."  
  
And with that, she jumped. But this is not the start of the tale, nor is it the end.  
  
  
Some number of years ago, there had been a thief. His name was Fareth, and he had been nothing special to anybody. Not in the early years. And besides, nobody reckoned thieves would really get along wearing a propeller hat.  
Which was quite a shock to most people when a somewhat tougher Fareth slew the great demon Baphomet, seeker of souls, master of demons and of men.. with a two-bit knife, wearing a propeller hat. And sandals. By himself.  
The fact he did this several times in subsequent months made him somewhat of a legend. That, and the fact he saved both Morroc and Prontera from the Overrunning, at the same time. Aided, of course, but, once again.. with the propeller hat. And boots, this time, since 'Prontera cobblestones are really not good on the feet'.  
  
He jumped off Geffen Tower, as well, but this is not his tale, either.  
  
  
We'll just have to start from a beginning. Not the beginning, but 'a' beginning. And not one of those 'whole life story' things, either. This is just a simple tale of a simple girl. A simple girl, with complex issues, who we'll leave falling towards a Geffen-town stone floor.  
  
For this is the domain of Ragnarok Online, and everything can happen.  



	2. Weathervane

The weathervane that sat atop Chimera's house creaked with all the pleasant sounds of a dying cat, and woke her rather roughly. With many mumbles and great, unseen effort, she slid out of bed and yelped a little; someone had placed a tub of icewater at the exit of her bed. And, of course, she slept barefoot.  
Cogs turned inside the somewhat young woman's head, for about half a second. "Ahh.. Shiri, I'm gonna detach your head and feed it to the pickies if I catch you!" she shouted, bluntly, stepping out of the rather unwelcome wakeup and fixing herself a look around the dusty straw-floored room for a towel.  
  
It was windy outside, she noted, as the last scrapings of water came off cleanly. A lot of stray sand out there, but then this was Morroc. The frontier. Suitably far from civilisation, but around a rather constant oasis anyway, so nobody minded. Heck, as far as Chimera cared, they could go suck it wherever else they were. Nearest place to here was a tossup between Prontera, that capital city where the big rich knights live.. or Payon, which isn't a bad town really but is a stone's throw from Alberta, money capital of the continent, full of really, really rich merchants. The reason her stupid sandals might have cost so much, too. 500 zeny? Her job didn't pay her enough to spend half a 'kay' on footwear.  
  
Shiri had got her a special present, though. 'One of the merchants was sold a pair of carded sandals. But he had no use for them.' That had been the story. Which was fair enough, since Chimera had become accustomed to the little speed-up her shoes gave her. Very nice, but not worth too much in what she did for a half-living. Only half; you didn't become a full Kapra if you weren't willing to go celibate.  
As she wrestled with the striped Kapra dress, a rather cute and lengthy pink dress with white stripes, a blouse, an apron, and a rather strange little hair-covering, Chimera idly considered that, life would be better. She didn't need to do this for many more weeks, anyway. For she, like many other people of this world, wanted to see the world.  
  
The dusty room she described as hers, quite conveniently, had a little wall set up as a Fareth shrine. While she almost paid religious homage to this thing most days, it was mostly fleeting since, of course, nobody had seen the guy for a long time. It was impossible in her head that such a legend could die, so therefore he was out there. Perhaps she'd meet him when she actually managed to give herself enough money to get by.  
"I hope you're still out there, you good for nothing, because when I get hold of you for that water I'm going to-"  
"Shiri isn't here, missus Chimera." mentioned a voice, at that point. And the green-haired female swung around. It was just Haek, whom she knew as Shiri's little brother. She thought he looked kinda cute, in that slightly typical brown garb, with what appeared to be armour but, really.. wasn't much good at all. Little guy in training? That's what that stuff made him appear to be...  
"So where is he?" asked the half-Kapra, grinning sweetly just as practice. Heck, why not? She'd be tending to people for most of today, the ill, the needy, the overburdened, and those needing a place to be for a while.  
  
What was said next would most likely provoke an unexpected reaction from anything Kapra related.  
"Shiri left for Izlude in the middle of the night. He's going to become a swordsman."  
  
The resulting cry of defeated anguish actually forced the weathervane atop the place Chimera lived to detach, and fall in a slate-assisted dive off the top of the roof, landing in a bush. Poor metallic Pecopeco. Someone would put it back up later.  
  
"He's not allowed to leave without me! We've been through this."  
"He got an offer from a knight who wanted a trainee to occupy his time. He decided to take it and.. hoped you'd understand."  
"Oh.." Chimera grinned. "I understand perfectly.. that I have to beat him up next time I see him. Utter PRAT. I don't have anywhere near enough money yet."  
"He asked me to put the water there, though, since he wouldn't be able to. I felt he needed the last laugh, anyway." Haek mentioned, before scampering away. And not without good reason, since she was after him like a shot. "I'm gonna eat you alive! Get back here!"  
  
Sigh, she thought, as she pounced upon Haek and sent him for a dirtscrabble. Praise be to carded sandals.  
  
---  
  
"You, Chimera, are a mess." mentioned Jennifer, as Chimera arrived in the crossroads in the north of the city. Of course, the side effects of making a certain friend's little brother wish he had more common sense is, of course, stripes that aren't really white, but a sandy brown.  
"Sorry, Jen. It really, really needed to be done. You hear Shiri's up and gone?"  
"I heard, and I want a word with you about it. But we'll talk when we get lunch later." Jen went quiet now, and Chimera sat upon the floor, and toyed with the bag containing her things that she needed to do the Kapra business out here. Good for hitting annoying little brother people with, too. And it showed.  
  
Chimera was handling storage with a young archer when Jennifer stopped, and wandered sharply to a guy that had just arrived in town. The guy was a thief, and his yellow top was in rather bad shape, as well as the rest of him. Most of an arm lay open.  
"What the heck..?" Jennifer spoke.  
"Priest... priest..." the guy mentioned over again. Jen, who was very calm and collected in such situations, ignored this fact, and ran to him in panic, and shook him about.  
"What happened to you?"  
"Hey.. I'm trying to bleed in peace here.."  
Jennifer let him go, and the guy collapsed, and coughed a little.  
"So. What happened."  
"An overrunning. Restless GMs. People are being knocked about in Izlude and Prontera. Priest?"  
A helpful priestess, dressed in flowing white, wandered over and mumbled a few words, before the entire square was bathed in white light. The thief was okay, if a little worn out.  
"Hey, you even got rid of my scars? You're good."  
Chimera rubbed her eyes. Nothing new. Lots of priests and the like around; few really died from such wounds. Unless they were slain during battle, which.. meant priests just did resurrection anyway. The mind boggles. But the green-haired female again considered. Izlude.  
  
"Shiri would be in Izlude by now, I think." Chimera wondered.  
"With a knight who's powerful enough to want a trainee. They'll do fine. You, meanwhile, have lunch to eat. Can we eat at your place?"  
The sun was, by now, beating right overhead. The thief had gathered his wits, and with a sandy back, had wandered away, to some safe place within Morroc. Loosening her headband, the slightly docile Chimera did the same, shifting sand about as she wandered to her safe place, the house and the room she lived in. With the missing weathervane in process of being repaired, right now, too. Chimera waved at the blacksmith who was actually performing the job, before going inside - Jennifer in tow.  
  
Jen wore a proper Kapra dress, and a priestess's armour and robes underneath it. Her level of ability was not advanced enough to deal with many things, but that was her lack of training; she'd been a Kapra for too long, and the brown hair of hers was sun-baked many a day. Both of her and Chimera shared blue eyes, though, and both looked at each other as they ate cold lunches and swapped thoughts about Fareth, with helpful glances at the shrine.  
  
The shrine was a rather large collection of things. On the wall was a chalk drawing, done by a particularly gifted artist-acolyte. Fareth was arming an ornate bow, wearing his trademarked propeller and looking somewhat tired, which since he'd probably be able to beat whatever he was arming for with a peashooter and a dustbin lid shield, was hardly surprising. Assortments of genuine Fareth Kills memorabilia sat on various sides; a chipping of the Crescent Scythe, some preserved honey from the Mistress. The centrepiece was .. a propeller hat.  
"Are you sure that's -the- hat he wore when beating Baphomet the first time?" Jen asked.  
"Positive. I won it in a competition held to raise money for the town. He'd apparently sold it off to get money, and that's pretty fair." Chimera said, chewing on a piece of meat. Meat was good. Easy to get hold of, too.  
  
Jennifer sat up, then, and glanced at Chimera. "I think I've decided, and you already.. you're not exactly the most typical Kapra trainee in the world, are you..?"  
Chimera shrugged. No, she wasn't, since she was probably endowed with the most agility and dexterity in the town at this point. That, and she liked making people suffer a little too much. "I suppose not. But I need the money."  
And Jen held up a bag. "This contains gemstones. Blue ones. From my resurrection collection. I'm not quite good enough yet, but.. take them. I can get more, somewhere. You want the money to go out and seek your life out there, right?"  
"Jen.." Chimera was then just given them. Jen spoke again.  
"C'mon. You're a thief by nature if not by class. You knew about the bag beforehand and there's one less in there than there should be. But I don't mind. It's your calling, and you certainly have a role model up there."  
Chimera blushed. "Ahaha.." Yeah, uh, that was not something she expected to be found out... "Legend has it Fareth stole the propeller hat you're now in possession of. As well as 13 thousand zeny, two gold rings, and four slotted wooden mails. From the same guy. In the same night. In his before-legend days, anyway. I was working as the late-night Kapra in Alberta when he did it. Wily one, is he."  
"I never heard that story before..." Chimera looked inside the bag. Yep. Stones. She didn't deserve them, but she was being given them anyway,  
  
"I wouldn't have taken them all, you know." Chimera mentioned.  
"I know. Give it time. You would have, soon enough." Jennifer mentioned, grinning.  
"Blah.."  
"You're ambitious. When you make it to the top, remember who I am. That's all I ask. And I think you've at least got yourself something to get you there." Jen said, standing to leave. Dusting off her dress from the dust of the room. "If you want to leave immediately, you can do that too."  
Squee. Chimera spoke quickly. "Uh.. Thanks! I'm not going to forget this.."  
"Well. I'll see you if I do." she spoke, before turning to leave.  
"Wait a second.." Chimera said. "Do you know where the Thief hideout is?"  
"Good question." Jennifer asked, not turning back. "I heard rumour it's around the Great Pyramid due northwest. That's where they seem to be based, anyway."  
"Thanks." Chimera nodded. And then the Kapra left.  
  
Jennifer wondered, afterwards, precisely why she'd done that. Looking back at the house and the room.. she wondered. Perhaps it had been something she had to do? The GMs, powerful as they were.. those things were everywhere, controlling everything, but not doing it openly. Perhaps one of them had a plan for the girl?  
Eh. She was a Kapra-priestess, and the GM was a GM. And an unknown one at that, if one was even there. So this line of thought ended quickly.  
  
  
For some reason, Chimera decided to try approaching the Thief guild in her Kapra uniform, so with some tossing and trading with a potion merchant, she took supplies, grabbed a kitchen knife and a dullish coverall cotton shirt, and set forth. Heck, it seemed the right thing to do?  
  
Something didn't sit right with her, though. It was unlike people to be this generous with her. Chimera stole stuff and was, often, very inconsiderate. It fit who she was, but it didn't make her any friends quickly; especially not ones that donate several kays worth of zeny into her lap for no reason. She, however, had more things to think about. Like what these Pyramids were like.  
  
It's not like she'd ever set foot into a serious dungeon before, anyway. But the potions.. would probably come in very handy indeed. Very handy.  
  
It looked dark from outside, and very looming... so tall, and sandbricky, and smelling of monsters and death and blood, and people lying outside, mostly rather inept, and mostly healing up gradually. A place for people not wearing Kapra dresses and a random shirt. And that's as much as Chimera noted, deciding to stay outside for now, and just.. compose herself mentally. Heck, she considered.. this would certainly be interesting, however she managed to fare.  



	3. Ketsen's Cookie

Confidence oozing from her being, Chimera wandered her way into the pyramids. The pyramid, as it was, lay home to a vast array of monsters, and generally evil things. That's as much as she knew, but she'd never been in. The place was brown, mostly, but some scarcely placed torches along some walls caused enough light to see by.. barely.  
Also noted was the large number of turns and dead ends the place had. It was a maze, and the girl possessed no map.  
"Well, this ought to be fun.." she considered, before turning a corner..  
.. and pulling the knife in front of her. An enemy! Quickly she darted to one side, an expertly novice manoeuvre in an attempt to not have been seen. In her hurry, she hit the wall, and the knife slipped from her hands. Cursing, she just sat down, knowing the end was near.  
  
.. It wasn't, as she looked up again. It was, by all rights, a giant mushroom. But it was moving about, sorta bouncing its way here and there, moving randomly, and not seeming to care whether Chimera really was there or not.  
"Oh. Ok." she said, picking the knife up, and walking onwards. Maybe this would be easy.  
  
An innocent looking tooth sat glistening on the floor of the dungeon around the next corner. Chimera wandered over towards it, when from just out of the light, a figure hopped towards the tooth. Reaching it, the jelly-like creature landed on it, absorbing the item into itself, and moved on.  
"Poring." mentioned the Kapra-clothed girl, just pulling the knife up and darting at the creature. Although, as she got closer.. she stopped. It was green.  
  
"Let's see.. we got told the order of these..." Chimera sat down, and thought wonderful poring thoughts. "Poring. Drops. Marin. Poporing. Mastering. Ghostring. Angelring. Or is Mastering easier than a Marin? .. Whatever. Pink red blue green big dead and.. yeah, we get the idea." Speaking to herself in these situations was quite fun. And before she knew it, the Poporing was pretty much on top of her. It 'squee'd lightly, before wandering away.  
"Poporing. Mean bugger. I'll leave it alone." said she, turning and walking right in front of what appeared to be a bat.  
  
The bats of the Pyramid are called 'Farmiliars'. They're small, grey, have a sharp bite, and don't hesitate to attack anything human they see. Which, of course, is bad news for Chimera. The farmiliar lunged at her instantly, grazing an arm, even through the shirt.  
"Ow!" she cried, and decided right then that this thing - and that's all it was - was going to die a somewhat painful, horrible, and otherwise mushy, death.  
  
Taking the blade handle in both hands, she back-pedalled a number of steps. The heat of the blood running under the dress and the shirt only served to remind her where she was, and how much this counted. With a speed uncanny for her, at least, she sped at the bat, which by then had been somewhat surprised, and stopped briefly as the blade itself swing in a wide arc, a mean and insurmountable arc. An arc that would make it meet its end. That--  
  
The shot missed.  
  
The farmiliar stuck its tongue out, and then went for another lunge, and it's about this time that Chimera swing at it randomly, and hit - grazing it. It shrugged it off, and went for another round, and at this point she decided it was probably best to run. And run she did.  
  
Into what appeared to be dozens of the bats. Her skin went slightly more pale than it should be, but.. colour returned as she realised they were all looking away. They already had a target. A darkly clothed guy, an acolyte, who really seemed to know where he was heading. He held a mace, a brown one that seemed to echo with the sounds of much action. Heavily clothed was he, and he had purpose at this point. Turning around, suddenly, he saw the novice in her shirt and with her knife, and glanced at the array of bats that had decided they wanted a free lunch, and were swarming towards him.  
  
He waved. And then he disappeared. The bats stopped, but instantly detected themselves a new target, turning to where Chimera was standing.  
"Oh cripes." she said. The first four looked at her with those beady red eyes, and it's then that she ran. And ran.  
  
---  
  
Back in the sunlight, the rays of day were swimming lightly about the air. Chimera, lying torn and beaten under a palm tree, nursed potion mix to her wounds, and cursed the ground. Perhaps, to become a thief, she would need to have a party.  
Of course, she wasn't feeling much like celebration now. "Har de har." she muttered to herself. Even her own head wasn't being appropriate, and that is a bad sign for anyone.  
  
A party is an exploration party. They team up, and do dungeons together. Party members help each other, and a good mix ensures the ability to beat more enemies. But she was a novice, a young one, even an ex half-Kapra for Fareth's sake. What the heck could -she- offer to a party?  
Still, she set up the sign. Perhaps if she left some of her wounds untended, she could incite the pity vote. 'Have knife. Need party. Will travel.'  
  
Most people passing into the pyramid didn't really glance at her. The few that did tossed gifts of potions and zeny, which was all well and good, but it wasn't what she was wanting. Someone, meanwhile, sat down next to her as she was dozing.  
"You know, miss.. most people will not actually make a party with a girl novice, and especially not one so young. People get the wrong impression; here we have good, solid guys, many of them swordsmen, or blacksmiths, or thieves.. and they're going off with teenage fe-male novices in their party." He deliberately enunciated female, and Chimera looked at him. A young guy.. a merchant, and one that wasn't wearing anything unusual. Merchants bugged the girl, but.. most of the reasons why didn't include sitting down and being helpful.  
"Who..?" she asked.  
"Just someone." he mentioned. "I note there are almost no female thieves, either. None so young, at all. Not in the whole of the continent, no sir. Ma'am. Whatever."  
"So you're saying what.."  
"I'm saying you should get yourself cleaned up, sort your appearance out, and look like you're ready to give a party some worth, rather than a ripped-up girl in a cotton shirt and a Kapra trainee dress." Plain advice. Chimera thought he made sense. But that's all he said, standing up and rifling through his pack.  
"At least tell me your name?" wondered she, looking up. He eventually pulled out a long blue garment, and a band of white cloth, and handed them to the girl.  
"There's some proper novice gear. I wouldn't have thought you'd care.. most Morroc people hate Alberta and their progeny, because Alberta is a rich town and Morroc is not. If you can get rid of that mindset, then come find me and ask. Guess where."  
  
The strange merchant walked off. Noting quickly his wear, Chimera thought.. An axe, an improved wooden mail.. a manteau, maybe carded.. Nothing of immense value. Which didn't shock her too much, really. She'd go find him, if she managed to ever survive this 'adventuring' lark.  
He'd given her an adventurer's suit, too. Nice. Best she get sorted while she could, and she trundled off back towards Morroc, and the docility of her own room.  
  
---  
  
After intense minutes in front of the mirror, Chimera examined what she'd had to do. Cutting the hair down was an annoying step, but at least now she looked more like a serious adventurer than a young teen who'd just been eaten by bats. That alone helped. With assistance from various tools, she had actually made herself look somewhat more male, as well. A needed step, perhaps. Who the heck could quibble about 'no female novices' if she pulled this one off for a while, hm? Even more so if she got to the thieves' hideout. They gave out clothing, too.  
  
She opted to practice, wandering around Morroc. This was her place of birth, and the place she lived. And nope, nobody spotted her. Jennifer raised an eyebrow when she crossed paths..  
"Hey, you know for a minute there, I coulda sworn.." she mentioned as Chi wandered past, shortish green hair to either side.  
"Hm? Something?" she questioned, feigning a lower pitch voice. It worked. "Nah.. never mind. I'm seeing things. Want anything?"  
"Oh, no.. I'm just fine." she mentioned, shaking her head, and then heading back over west. Towards the pyramids again. Now then.. it was time to party.  
  
---  
  
After a while in front of the sign, again advertising her need for a party, she started chipping on a bit of wood with the knife, idly. She got less donations, but more glances. A few even mentioned. "We'd take you, but we're going underground some more, you wouldn't like it down there. Sorry." And then they left.  
  
This much, however, had to change. A voice from behind him.  
"You seem like you're waiting for something."  
The voice dragged a little, but mostly it sounded sincere and somewhat experienced. Spinning around, she was blinded as the metal the knight wore reflected the sun rather completely into her eyes.  
"You know, that's one bright and snazzy bit of armour there." she said, shielding her eyes. The figure offered a hand; slightly tarnished, but mostly firm.  
"Any cracks about meeting a knight in shining armour, and I'll leave you in the good care of an Osiris for a while." he mentioned, grinning. Full plate, it had to be, greeted the disguised one's face. A sweet, sweet one-handed sword, pricey and worthy, greeted her eye at his belt, and various other things.. some boots, a manteau, a helm. Slotted, carded maybe.. this guy was pretty good. Resourceful. And he probably had lots of money to spare...  
"Now I can see you there, doing your little Morroc trick, sizing up my equipment. That's why they breed thieves here. But I'll say one thing; a thief on your side is better than one on someone else's side. What's your name?"  
It was flat, a somewhat Prontera-based accent but probably.. slightly more south. Anything south deserved trust, especially in Schwarzwald, their continent. And Chimera couldn't even begin to imagine sizing up people from other places on Rune-Midgard... "Uh.. Chimera, that's my name.." And her hand was shook about. Very distinctly shook about.  
"And you're a bit of a nancy boy, too, but that's okay.. cause I can size your sandals up from here. Carded. You're quick already. And you know people, it would seem."  
"Let's see you come down here and say that?" Chimera teased, feeling a little less inclined to go about agreeing. It's not how things are done, and she knew it.   
And the guy laughed. Which she took as a good sign. "Yeah, I was right. I knew I was right. Name's Ketsen. I am the only knight worthy enough to stand in this square foot in which I am standing. That is my call to fame."  
Tall. Silvery hair. Older than she, and way more looming and threatening than Chimera guessed she ever could be. Then again, that might be the Tsurugi, the special sword. Wonderful thing, that... the average Tsu sold for several hundred kays even without thinking.  
He paused for a minute or so. "I have a party. A small one, bust mostly it is consisted of novices and newly classed. You are the second member! I will give you this."  
  
A small round breaded object was quickly unearthed from a pocket and given to Chimera, who eyed it carefully. "It's a cookie." she finally stated.  
"Yes, it is." Ketsen replied, nonchalantly. "Some people think I'm rather eccentric, but I'm not. I just know what I like. As my old Poring used to say... Waffle. Strudel. Lederhosen. We go now."  
Chimera stared at the knight. Mad? Utterly. Experienced? Very. Could she care less? No, she could probably enjoy this a lot. And as he wandered towards the pyramid entrance, she had to ask.  
"And so what does that actually mean?"  
A blank glance was given. "You know. I never actually had to answer that question before. So I guess I don't know. Eat the cookie, you've been sitting there too long. Thieves hideout is only a short hop, but the energy might serve you well."  
  
Ketsen removed a small jewel from the pouch he wore, and flung that at Chimera, who caught it rather easily. "This is to signify you are in a party. With it you'll be able to hear the other people's messages to you from afar like they were in your own head. They say too much of it drives someone mad, but I don't believe them."  
Chimera could learn to. She followed him, even as he chanted the opening verses of 'Onward Christian Soldiers', but in reality, the morale boost would probably help. The subtle things are always the best ones.  
  
And the female voice she heard over the jewel didn't give a name, but just spoke about how she was doing every so often. She was just on her way to Izlude, a small town somewhere north. Chimera wondered if perhaps that meant the voice was also going to join the rank of the swordsmen. Yes, they were still called swordsmen, even if some of them were female. It was in recognition that not many were at all.  
  
But, to the matter at hand. Ketsen, with sword out, and Chimera, with knife out.. together they re-entered the pyramid. Somehow, the girl didn't think she'd get toasted this time through. That thought settled her.  
  
And a bat that had been waiting outside.. went back for Chimera, liking her and only her, it would seem. Then, it was neatly cleaved in two.  
"Obviously a fan of yours. I could tell by the way he licked his lips." Ketsen mentioned, grinning like a loon, before marching swiftly onwards. And Chimera darted after, and.. perhaps she was smiling too.  
  
What an amazingly good idea this whole 'party' thing might have been after all.  



	4. Entering Thiefdom

In a darkened place, it is very easy to lose track of time.  
  
Chimera had long lost track of time by now. As far as she was concerned, it was dark and it would always be dark. Apart from the torches, and they might as well have been not there, for all the help they did give.  
Casting a glance upon Ketsen, who was still moving along just fine... she realised he didn't have a clue where he was going, but she supposed that made two of them. A thieves' hideout should, of course, not be too easy to find.  
"Are you sure it's even in here, Ketsen?" she had to ask, in the somewhat feigned voice she'd gotten used to speaking as. The thought occurred to Chimera that, had she not been female, she'd have been male. It seemed like a good alternative.  
  
Then she laughed.  
"No! It is in here. I have taken people before. They know me in there. I was even given a map!" he replied.  
To which the green-haired novice stumbled against a wall. "You have a map? So why are we trying to get there without it?!"  
"It's good practice. After all, better you don't get used to always having the map there. Then how will you cope?"  
"Ketsen.. WE'RE NOT COPING!" she screeched at him.  
"Course we are. If you'd like to be honest, you're greener than grass. They wouldn't accept you, period. You use that knife like it's a sword, and they don't like that."   
Ketsen said, stopping suddenly. Chimera could easily forget that he was so much more over her at this point. "I don't suppose I could coerce you to come to Izlude and become a swordie?"  
"Not what I'm interested in." Chimera mentioned. "Shiri always told me I used my sword like I was trying to cut vegetables with it."  
"Food is good." Ketsen said, before continuing walking. "I guess I don't want to have too many swordsmen anyway. We have two as it is."  
*One swordsman.* came the mentally projected voice. *And one swords/woman/, thank you. Besides, you're not a swordie any more, you're a fricken' KNIGHT.*  
"Can't talk just now." Ketsen spoke, stepping over the point in an expert fashion; ignoring it. "We have a bat problem."  
  
The air was clear. Chimera couldn't hear anything, and the only things they'd seen were Spores, which were the mushrooms.. and Poporings, which were green and mostly useless. Ketsen had poked at one with a sword, and while it tried to suck his arm off, she'd hit it about. Quite good practice, really. She felt a little better with her knife. Right now, though.. there were no bats.  
"We do?" questioned she, before being cut off.  
"Uh huh. Shh now. You might hear them."  
  
Silence overtook the dusty maze chamber in which they were running around, a little like rats caught, but with no cheese or light to guide their path. Less like the common analogy, since no rat ever had to put up with roughly two dozen gnats, out for blood. And similarly.. Chimera could hear something. Flapping. But it was echoing on a somewhat large scale. Perhaps this was the swarm she had seen such a long time ago. "Now, you stay here. And watch. Maybe you be convinced to take up the way of the swordie." Ketsen mentioned, smiling that stupid smile, and then walking off towards the sound, tsurugi at arm's length in front of him.  
"Oh, what now.." mentioned the girl, shaking her head...  
  
The mentality of a common farmiliar is very, very straightforward. Flying is good. Food is good. People mean food. People are bad. Sharp weapons are bad. Getting hit is bad. Magic is more bad. Et cetera.  
Knights walking towards groups of them with sword out is only half-bad, because knights are slow, and bats are not. Indeed, Ketsen had been right; roughly 20 bats of various demeanours were flapping around what appeared to be a set of stairs.  
Ketsen knew what it was. Someone running for their life had caused a train of bats, and then escaped the area, leaving behind just them.  
"So then." he spoke. "Come get some."  
The sounds he spoke rosed the slightly annoyed farmiliars, and they all set off in his general direction. They didn't see the tsurugi with its brilliant glow, nor did they see him grinning like one who really, really, **really** knows what's going to happen next.  
  
Chimera saw it, anyway. Well, heard it. The knight she was watching, as he pulled back to hit, about half a second before hollering. "Magnum Break!"  
That was, of course, half a second again, before the area around him exploded in a fire-assisted flourish of power. And she stopped blinking for a while.  
The area was littered with dead farmiliars, a few still smouldering. Some that didn't get caught in the initial blast were busy being taken out gradually by Ketsen, each taking a hit or two - sometimes he missed, but it didn't mean much. He was getting hit, but he didn't really seem to mind; what with that armour, and his whole 'knight' experience status, small cuts were as nothing.  
The last bat was probably on the verge of bolting, but he wouldn't do so. Ketsen wouldn't give him the chance anyway, stepping up, and muttering something, before hitting it then. To the tune of it just completely exploding. Chimera knew that move, that was Bash.. pretty neat, really, but very messy if it overkills. as it obviously had. "And that, as they say, is that. Take teeth, or wings, or whatever; there are collectors and merchants out there that fund the effort against monsters by paying you for it. Mad people, they are.."  
  
Beyond where he'd been standing, there was a narrow flight of stairs going downwards. There were wards around it that prevented monsters from coming in. Magic, thought Chimera. But not exactly the cheap stuff. This was just a prevention, of some sort..  
"Why, of course, is because we've reached the thiefy place." Ketsen spoke, shattering silence with not as much effort as that battle took.  
"Doesn't look much.." mentioned Chimera, as both of them went downstairs, one after the other. It was a basement, pretty much, and another corridor stretched out in front of them. But this place had more light. It still wasn't exactly homely.  
"You were expecting rich tapestries and furnishings? There's a reason Morroc dislikes the merchants, and I don't think I need to say more than that since you already know so." spoke the knight, wandering along with tsurugi now back on his belt, to his side. Chimera hadn't had her knife out for a while; it seemed a pointless venture to keep it out while the bats were being decimated. She wasn't going to do anything, as such..  
  
A sign sat at a crossroads, to three rooms. Two were unmarked, but one had an arrow on it. It didn't have any words written.  
"The arrow has it. There's only one reason anyone ever comes here, so writing on the sign is unnecessary." explained the ever-wise knight, letting Chimera take first step, and then following her in. A step that the green-haired one duly did take.  
  
"Ya know, I thought nobody wou'd ever get here again. Those bats have been there for days 'n days now." a voice spoke from inside upon seeing the two hapless ones wander in. The voice was female, not very well-to-do; it wasn't familiar to Chimera, but she thought it might have been at one point. Living around Morroc generally means you see townspeople at one moment, and the same people as thieves at another. Just like her. "Bats. Pfft. Someone set that gathering up, and you know it. Hey, where's our Benedric, anyway?" asked Ketsen, trickling a finger down a dusty wall, and looking at the thief female. Red-haired, wearing some slightly revealing garments, mostly tanned, and looking slightly mangled. Like she'd tried to fight off some farmiliars herself at one point.  
"Benny headed to Izlude by teleporter. He leads us, that makes him one of the better fighters on this continent. He was needed to stop the monster overrunning, at least in his mind he was."  
"Benedric, helping people? Pfft." Ketsen retorted.  
"Never believe everything you hear in a merchant and GM-controlled world, hoss." she spoke, wandering from her position sat upon a dusty counter, just to stand in front of the taller knight. "If you really want to hold to your thoughts, though.. if the world goes to ruin, where do we steal from?"  
"Your point is made. Anyway, there's a reason I'm here, and I'm guessing since you're here, you can help me out. I have a novice friend, and I believe you can guess the rest."  
  
So this is how Chimera found herself held about the neck with a loose arm grasp, from the front, being looked at by a goggle-clad female thief with slightly musky breath and a really tired look. "Looks green."  
"So do all novices. Tell us something I don't know."  
"Well... Ok, mister, what's my equip."  
Chimera grinned. She never had any problems with this.. "Stiletto, thief clothes, boots. All carded. Stiletto plus.. 4. Or 5. Goggles, carded. Buckler, slotted. Doesn't see much action."  
"Stiletto, plus 4. They're similar enough. Keep going."  
"Muffler, slotted, uncarded. I don't blame you. Two earrings, and you don't need earrings, but you have them anyway. Ten unreal fingernails, and one gold tooth. And the thief clothes are plus 8. You paid someone very pretty money for that." This was easy.  
The fingernail comment had her thrown off guard. But she retorted to something different. "I saved up for years to even earn enough to buy the services of people at my equal so we could go and steal it. After all, what's the point in paying when they're as corrupt as Baphomet anyroad?" pouted the thief. "Okay, okay. You're Morroc and that's an understatement. What's the quality of my stiletto? How much damage has it sought, and what would I get for it as best price in open market?"  
"Damned if I know or care." Chimera mentioned. "Early in its life. You'd get whatever they wanted to pay you. Merchants are restrictive like that."  
"I like you." she said. Before whispering to her, Ketsen attempting to put an ear into it. ("Short hair suits nobody female. It's a crime. You don't feel right, but you're a pretty good disguise aside from that. I'll keep hush.")  
Chimera twitched. The thiefy pulled away.  
  
"So then.. I don't know you, mister knight, but I'm thinking you should take him and go beat stuff up a little longer. He's got the knack, but I can't take someone in at this level of fighting skill. Me old grandmother could probably do more damage than you right now." she spoke, teasing the last point.  
"Hmm? I guess it's harder to be a thief than a swordie then.. That's wrong, I think."  
Ketsen said. "But that's the way the cookie crumbles. Mmm, cookie. C'mon, let's fry some more flying stuff."  
Chimera wasn't satisfied.  
  
"You know, I've spent all day trying to get through this pyramid. I've been bitten, sliced, squished, slimed, and generally beaten about on my way here, following a knight who, knowingly having a map, isn't actually using it. My arms feel like they're lead, and my reflexes are about as finely tuned as a dead fish. Right now, anyway. Now I'm just worried that even if I get as good these next few days, I'm not ever gonna find my way back here. Heck, if I was meant to be skilled before coming here, what's the point in joining?" made Chimera, a speech as she stared right at the girl - a little taller than she. Making a slightly falsetto job of the speech, but otherwise keeping a lid on things.  
It took the thiefy by surprise. "Well, I.. I don't make the rules."  
"Pfft. Nobody else is here. You do as you want to do. But, okay. Fine, fine. I shall go out and do some more damage. I guess." said she, dejectedly shrugging, and wandering towards the door out. Ketsen watched. He knew something was going to happen here..  
  
"I think I'll have more success, anyway. Especially if I use this stiletto and buckler I just happened to find in the last ten seconds.." spoke Chimera, with an air of grace, presenting the sharpened dagger and the shield item above her head for the whole room, the empty one, to see.  
The thiefy stared a while.. before patting her back and by her side, just to see if this was some sort of falsehood setup. Nope, her own weaponry and shield had gone. Probably taken while the speech was going on. "H.. HEY!"  
She stormed up to Chimera, reaching at the items quickly, taking them back. She was much faster than our green-haired heroine, thus, reacquiring the items rather simply.  
"You know, I rescind that. I don't like you." Pause.  
Chimera tilted her head, wondering if this little ruse had failed..  
".. I really, really like you. You have guts, mister. And a knack. Something we need more of. Tell you what. If you two don't mention this to /anybody/, I'll put your name down and kit you up." she said, wavering the tone. Of course, to have it known she was disarmed by a novice of the sort to make even grass upset, she'd never hear the end of it from those she knew..  
"Fine by me." Chimera said.  
  
---  
  
"And now you look like a proper thief." Ketsen commented, when Chimera returned from one of the adjacent rooms. Indeed, the blue adventurer suit was still present, but it was worn open now; a firm yellow sweater and thin roan-red gloves. Black trousers, with special patterns along the seams and on the knee, sat long over the top of her ever-present carded sandals. And the bandage, that bandana she wore, sat neatly atop short green hair. "I could like this." considered Chimera, neatly looking at her reflection in a watery reflection caused by the only thing close to a mirror in the area; a stored clear case of clear liquid, supplies for the hideout. Water, of course.  
"If your knight or you have some spare coppers, I can sell you some other things. Daggers, shields, robes. The prices on them on the outside are unholy, but we only charge half. Even half is slightly overpriced, but it's the lowest you'll find anywhere. As much as we'd like to lower it, we don't get enough to fund supplies and operations from here otherwise. But hey, at least we aren't exactly lining our pockets with it for the sake of doing so. Think of it as an investment." mentioned the seasoned thiefgirl, wandering to the counter.  
"You talk like you're enticing." Chimera said, giving a tooth-grin.  
"I'm from Alberta. It's part of the heritage. Don't even dare thinking worse of me for that fact, mister, it's not like by living there I endorse the merchants who feel that they can have money out of their ears unfairly, while Morroc goes under the poverty line, and Geffen works barely over it."  
"Wasn't going to mention it." said Chimera.  
  
"I will buy you stuff now." Ketsen said. "Got any cookies?"  
"Uh.. Nope." said the thiefy. "We do have daggers, though."  
"Daggers are shiny." shrugged Ketsen. "What will 20 thousand get me?"  
20 kays? Chimera looked at Ketsen endearingly. "Hey, I kill stuff. People pay money for stuff that shows I've killed. Keeps people training, so that towns don't go under in the Overrunning. Items recovered from that glow fiercely. Merchants pay thrice normal price for that. It's a GM thing. I like Overrunnings, but I get beaten up a lot. We win, though."  
"What's to like about the possible destruction of a town, anyway.." considered the green-haired one..  
  
The thiefy glanced through stock prices. "20 thou will get you.. a dagger, a muffler, and a buckler. It could alternatively get you other things, but those would need to replace what you're wearing, and I won't waste your money doing that."  
"Sounds fine." said Ketsen, removing a bag from his pocket and fingering through the contents.. eventually extracting some zeny, in the form of jewels, and presenting them to the thiefy. She gave a few back as change from a sack under the counter, before wandering around finding the items indicated.  
Eventually, she returned with a sharp dagger, a rounded blue shield, and a light brown covering garment for the neck and upper body. "Muffler. Buckler. Dagger. Thanks for funding the cause."  
"Not a problem." Ketsen said, pointing at Chimera. "Put the stuff on. You know how the shield goes, right?"  
Chimera was busy finding the area on the back of the jumper where a shield would go when one didn't feel like holding it in a hand. "I took one off earlier today, I know how this works." The knife found her belt, and the muffler found her neck. Layers of clothing, and she was quite fine under it all. Perhaps she could even avoid dying from bats now. That'd be something.  
  
They went to leave then, the thiefy waving them out before going about the business of eating and drinking something. Now other people could get in, she had to be properly ready. No rest for the wicked, she considered, as the place went silent once more.  
  
---  
  
"So where do we go now?" considered Chimera as Ketsen led them back up the stairs. The corridor was darker than she'd last seen it, and quite empty of everything.  
"Now, we go to Izlude. I have money, so we don't have to walk. Izlude is a long way away, I don't want or need to walk until we have the party out here." Ketsen said, simply. "So how's it feel to know that your life consists o being expected to rob people, Chichi?"  
"Chichi.." Chimera shook her head. "You heard the lady. Don't believe everything you hear."  
"Ahh, she was eyeing up the tsurugi. She would have taken it had you not already shown that you watch everything going on in a room at the same time. You had your eye on it ever since I met you, but I trust you more than that."  
"Honour among thieves, I guess. Bet that doesn't extend to knights.." said she, following Ketsen then. "It should! I gave her zeny!"  
"And she stopped looking at the tsu after you did." said Chimera. "Anyway. Let's get going then. Maybe the bats are thinking of stealing your tsu now.."  
"They are?" Ketsen said, feigning belief. "I guess... I'll just have to kill any I see." And off he dashed, the odd provocation being spoken just in case something was hiding in the shadows. It wasn't hard for her to follow, since he was slower than she was, but she was spending more time in thinking right now.  
  
She'd never been to Izlude. And she'd never seen a town not long after an Overrunning. Speaking of which..  
*Hey.. miss? Is Izlude free of the monster invasion yet?* she asked the empty void.  
*Yeah. I got here, and I couldn't get in. We were being kept out by a fairly high-level priest, who knew precisely who could help and who would get killed. I was a novice, so I didn't even try. But they won already. A few buildings were damaged, but nothing bad happened. And not many deaths, either.*  
"That's good." Ketsen said. He seemed to speak to everyone at the same time, and Chimera decided she didn't need to ask about it. "We'll be there soon, so just wait around."  
*Sure thing, Ket.* the voice came. It was quite serene for a swordie, considered Chimera; she could even have come from Geffen. Or Aldebaran. She'd ask if it wasn't obvious when they got there.  
  
The trip out was a lot quicker, and she considered Ketsen was actually using the map this time. The sunlight, meanwhile, hit both of them quite hard around the head.  
  
Chimera wasn't aware someone was following them, but if she had been, it probably wouldn't have mattered in the slightest anyway. Tee hee. And by a healer, too. The acolyte, this particular acolyte, often did things without thinking them out first. It wouldn't be the first time. It probably wouldn't even be the last.  
  
And the sunlight hit **him** hard, as well. Ouch.  



End file.
